Shynot Broadilea, who is the smartest, bravest, and most curious person she knows, is not known for staying out of trouble. When her casual disobedience and exploration of the Moon Palace is discovered she is banished from her home in the Heavens. And she’s pretty salty about it. Now she wanders the earth, killing monsters and inventing magic for spite. But she also uses her powers, her cleverness, and her passionate emotions to help the people she meets along the way. Sometimes with less-than-ideal consequences.
In this first installment in the series, Shynot tames the four Winds, escapes the Moon Herself in a handmade flying ship, and helps a struggling village of nocturnal not-quite-human people defeat an errant sun that is flying too close to their homes.
First and foremost, Shynot Broadilea is the fantasy adventure series I wanted to read as a kid. Episodic in nature, its themes of exploration, choosing joy over anger, and discovering right and wrong for oneself are lessons I could not find for young women. This 80-k work, which I hope to be the beginning of a series, combines the joyful and anarchistic spirit of One Piece, the humor and moral complexity of Avatar: Last Airbender, and the fighting spirit of Percy Jackson and Girl Giant and Monkey King. The world is very influenced by world mythology and fairytales but mixes and twists them in the dreamy style of writers like Kelly Barnhill, Grace Lin, Holly Black, or Karen Russell.
L.J. Longo 